Somersworth All-Stars ready to take next step

SOMERSWORTH — With the throw from shortstop David Picou on its way and history hanging in the balance, first baseman Ethan Johnson had just one thought.

“I better catch it,” he said Thursday at practice.

Johnson not only secured the final out of the Somersworth 9-10 All-Stars’ 9-0 win over Portsmouth last Sunday, but the program’s first district title in Little League baseball as well.

Somersworth reached the district final in 2007, but lost to Portsmouth.

“It’s a little different being district champion,” said manager Dennis Soule, “because no one else has done it before. It’s weird practicing this late, but it’s a good feeling.”

The team hopes to continue its ground-breaking run in a best-of-three state championship series against District I champion Bedford which begins Saturday (10 a.m.) at Manchester Central.

“If we win the first one our chances get better,” Soule said, “but if we lose I wouldn’t count us out.”

Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday at noon with a decisive third game, if necessary, to be played next Wednesday at 5:45 p.m.

“We don’t really know much about them and they really don’t know much about us I would have to say,” said center fielder Maxx Spinelli. “That doesn’t matter to us, we just need to play as hard as we can.”

Somersworth went 6-1 in pool play in District II with its lone loss coming against top-seeded Rye, which was upset in the semifinals of the championship round by Portsmouth, 5-2.

Somersworth defeated Concord American, 7-4, in the other semifinal, then eliminated Portsmouth behind pitcher Jeremy Levesque’s four-hitter, an opportunistic offense and a defense that played errorless ball.

Johnson, Picou and Levesque had two-run singles in a game that raised Somersworth’s overall record this summer to 8-1.

Bedford is 5-0, including a 7-2 win over Manchester East in the District-I final. It averages eight runs a game, and scored in double figures in three of its five contests.

“I think they’re all pretty confident at this point,” Soule said. “We haven’t had any trouble keeping them focused.”

Somersworth has been getting contributions up and down the lineup throughout the tournament.

Second baseman Gage Gagne, who bats eighth in the order, had two hits and two RBIs, and reached base three times in the victory against Concord.

“We’re going to have to put the ball in play,” Spinelli said, “and have good pitching.”

Somersworth got a big boost from Levesque with a complete game in the district final, especially with its top two pitchers — Marshall Smaracko and Picou — unavailable because of high pitch counts the day before in the semifinals.

“We’ve got to focus, make contact with the ball and make good plays in the field,” Johnson said. “That’s basically it.”

Levesque reached his 75-pitch limit on the last batter he faced Sunday, and allowed only one runner to get as far as second base.

“Jeremy did wicked good,” Spinelli said. “He shut them down.”

“He was amazing,” Johnson said. “From the first inning on I knew he had it.”

Smaracko or Levesque will likely start Saturday’s opener with Picou ready in relief if he’s needed.

Smaracko and Picou hit behind tablesetters Trent Evans and Spinelli, who combined for five walks and five runs scored in the D-II final against Portsmouth.

“We thought we would have a good team and get this far,” Spinelli said. “In the regular season all these players were phenomenal.”

Soule liked his team from the outset.

“We knew what their potential was,” he said. “We didn’t know what was going to happen until the games started. They showed what they can do.”